The present invention relates to a wheel-housing shell for incorporation in mudguards of a motor vehicle, which extends at least approximately parallel to the mudguard over a considerable part of the inner periphery of the mudguard and which forms with this a hoselike channel having an air inlet at its end at the front in the driving direction and at its other end an air outlet directed towards the roadway, the wheel-housing shell being equipped with orifices which assist or make easier the passage of water splashes into the channel.
In wheel-housing shells of the above described type, an air flow from their front end to the rear end is generated during motoring. At the same time, a vacuum occurs in the channel, and this draws the water splashes which occur through the orifices in the wheel-housing shell into the channel and diverts them towards the roadway by means of the air flow. This prevents the water splashes from escaping from the mudguard laterally and therefore also the particular vehicle or other road users from being soiled and/or impeded.
A wheel-housing shell of the type described in the introduction is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,120 corresponding to British Patent 2,039,260 and German patent 2,934,145 A1. In this disclosure the vacuum is generated in the space between a mudguard designated by reference numeral 4 in these patents and wheel-housing shell (called a supplementary mudguard 1 in these patents) by guiding the wheel-housing shell at some distance underneath the vehicle floor (see passage 2 in these patents). The air flow between roadway and vehicle floor thus generates a vacuum in the channel between mudguard and wheel-housing shell, so that this space remains dry and clean and corrosion of the mudguard is therefore counteracted.
In another disclosure according to DE 2,524,344 A1, the channel is open towards the wheel and is equipped in the orifice with numerous baffle strips which draw the water splashes flying off from the wheel into the channel from where they are guided onto the roadway.
The disadvantage of the above mentioned arrangements is that their effect is restricted, whether they are mainly intended to counteract the corrosion of the mudguard, as in DE 2,934,145, or as in DE 2,524,344 A1, a considerable proportion of the water splashes bounces off from the wheel-housing shell or for other reasons are not picked up by the suction occurring between the baffle strips, for example because the vacuum in the channel is too low as a result of a temporary decrease in speed.
Another disadvantage is to be seen in the fact that the air flow and the impact of the water cause disturbing and annoying noise.